Do you want to play Pokémon GO on your iPhone? If you're living in one of the 27 countries where Pokémon GO is available, you're in luck! There's an easy way to obtain it. Or maybe you want to play some classic Pokémon games on your iPhone? With a special emulator app and the game files, you can play almost all the Pokémon games from your one device! You can get any Pokémon game up to Black & White 2 on your iPhone. It is not currently possible to play Pokémon X or Y on the iPhone.

Steps

Method1

Pokémon GO

1

Go to the App Store. Pokémon GO is available on the iPhone and Android. From the home screen of your phone, swipe your finger to the right and type "App Store" (or "Play Store", on an Android) into the search bar that appears. Tap the App Store icon to open the App Store.

2

Search for the Pokémon GO app. Tap on the Search button at the bottom of the screen and type "Pokémon GO" into the search bar. Tap Search to see a list of results pop up.

3

Download the Pokémon GO app. Find the Pokémon GO app in the results. Tap the GET button at the top-right corner of the results bar. You may be prompted to enter your Apple ID password. After doing this, you should see the app begin to download.

4

Open the Pokémon GO app. Press the home screen button and tap on the new Pokémon GO icon that will have appeared.

If you don't see the app on your home screen, swipe left until you see the Spotlight search bar appear where you can type "Pokémon GO" in and tap on the app that appears.

5

Allow Pokémon GO to access your location. Giving the app access to your location will allow you to make full use of the game's features.

6

Enter your date of birth. When you have done this, hit Submit.

7

Sign up for a Pokémon GO account. You can do this one of two ways:

Sign up using Gmail. If you have a Gmail account, you can choose this option to link your account to the game, allowing you to share data between the two accounts. Signing up with Gmail currently seems to be more stable than using the Pokémon Trainer Club.

Sign up for the Pokémon Trainer Club. This is a feature on Pokémon.com that seeks to create a dedicated community of Pokémon players who can communicate, battle, and trade Pokémon with one another. If you're interested in joining this community, this is a good option to choose.[1]

8

Design your trainer avatar. After accepting the terms and conditions and an introduction from Professor Willow, you'll be taken to the picture of two avatars.

Tap your preferred presentation and you'll be taken to a screen where you can edit different physical features of your avatar.

Edit your features by tapping on the different sections of each and using the arrows to toggle between different looks.

Tap on the checkmark at the bottom-right corner of the screen when you are finished designing your avatar. You're ready to go!

Method2

Without a Jailbreak

1

Do not upgrade to iOS 8.1. Apple's iOS 8.1 update breaks the GBA4iOS emulator app. You will no longer be able to install or use the app after updating. If you want to continue using the GBA4iOS emulator, do not update to 8.1.

Open the Settings app on your iPhone. In order to install the Game Boy Advance emulator on your iPhone, you will need to adjust the date. You will need to change to this date every time you restart your iPhone.

You can use this emulator to play Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed, LeafGreen, or the Originals.

3

Tap "General".

4

Tap "Date & Time".

5

Toggle "Set Automatically" to OFF.

6

Set the date back at least one full day. To be safe, set it back one month.

If you want to play the Nintendo DS versions of Pokémon (Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HG SS, Black, White, B2, and W2), you will need the NDS4iOS emulator, which can be downloaded from iEmulators.com. You will need to use the same date trick outlined in these steps.

9

Tap "Download GBA4iOS 2.0".

10

Tap the download link. If you are using iOS 7 or 8, tap the "Download GBA4iOS 2.0.X" button. If you are using iOS 6, tap the "Download GBA4iOS 1.6.2" button.

11

Tap "Install" to install the app. The app may take a while to download.

12

Open GBA4iOS. After the app is installed, you will be able to find it on your Home screen. Tap it to open it.

13

Tap "Trust" when prompted to run the app.

14

Search for Pokémon ROMs. These are the game files that you need to download to play the game. Use Safari to search for ROM files to download

CoolROMs is one of the best resources for downloading ROMs

You can only legally download ROMs for games that you physically own.

15

Download the ROM. Once you've found a Pokémon ROM, download it to your iPhone by tapping the download link on the website.

16

Open the file in GBA4iOS. After the file is finished downloading, you will be prompted to choose an app to open it in. Select GBA4iOS from the list.

17

Set your date back. After running GBA4iOS for the first time, you can return to your settings and set "Date & Time" back to automatic.

You will need to set the date back again whenever you reset your iPhone.

Method3

With a Jailbreak

1

Jailbreak your iPhone. The method varies depending on your device, but there are reliable jailbreaks available for all versions of iOS.

See this guide for detailed instructions on jail breaking your iPhone.

Jail breaking allows you to run apps that aren't allowed on the Apple App Store, which allows you to install GBA4iOS without messing with your system's date.

Jail breaking can be risky, and you will void your warranty by jail breaking your device. If the jail breaking process goes wrong, you could lose access to your device.

2

Launch Cydia on your jail broken iPhone. This is the jailbreak package manager, and it allows you to install apps and tweaks that aren't allowed on the Apple App Store.

3

Search for "GBA4iOS". GBA4iOS is now included in the Cydia repo, which means you can download it directly from the Cydia app. Search for it and then tap GBA4iOS in the results.

If you want to play the Nintendo DS versions of Pokémon (Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HG SS, Black, White, B2, and W2), you will need the NDS4iOS emulator, which can be installed the same way.